Chalcogenide glass based inks obtained by dissolution or nanoparticles milling

ABSTRACT

An additive manufacturing ink composition may include a fluid medium. The ink may further include a chalcogenide glass suspended within the fluid medium to form a chalcogenide glass mixture. The ink may also include a surfactant. A method for forming an additive manufacturing ink may include wet milling a chalcogenide glass in a fluid medium and a surfactant to produce a chalcogenide glass mixture. The method may also include, after wet milling the chalcogenide glass, processing the chalcogenide glass mixture to reduce an average particle size of the chalcogenide glass.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/943,031, filed on Dec. 3, 2019,and entitled “Materials Characterization of Thin Films Printed withGe20Se80 Ink,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/943,044,filed on Dec. 3, 2019, and entitled “Studies and Analysis of GexSe100-xBased Spin Coated Chalcogenide Thin Films,” the contents of each ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

GOVERNMENT LICENSE RIGHTS

This invention was made with Government support under contract numberFPK809-SB-001 awarded by NASA. The Government has certain rights in theinvention.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure is generally related to the field of additivemanufacturing and, in particular, to chalcogenide glassnanoparticle-based ink for additive manufacturing and chalcogenide glassink obtained by dissolution.

BACKGROUND

Chalcogenide glasses and electrical systems made with chalcogenideglasses may be beneficial for several reasons. For example, chalcogenideglasses may include up to 5% impurities without affecting theirelectrical performance. They may also be radiation hard. They canfurther have various optical properties for use in sensing andcommunication systems. Based on these properties, chalcogenide glassesoffer a wide range of applications including phase change memory,temperature sensing, infrared laser power delivery, high-speedcommunications, and ultra-fast switching.

Chalcogenide glass layers may typically be formed through conventionaldeposition methods, such as evaporative deposition techniques. Thesetechniques may be costly and may not be suitable from some applications.Additive manufacturing technologies may help reduce the cost ofmanufacturing in general, however, typical additive manufacturingtechniques rely on inks that include the desired material. Traditionaladditive manufacturing inks may not be compatible with the properties ofchalcogenide glasses. Other disadvantages may exist.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, an additive manufacturing ink composition may includea fluid medium and a chalcogenide glass suspended within the fluidmedium to form a chalcogenide glass mixture solution. It should be notedthat, as used herein, the term “solution” may refer to a solutedissolved in a solvent, or a suspension of nanoparticles in a fluidmedium, which may not be dissolved. The additive manufacturing inkcomposition may further include a surfactant.

In some embodiments, the fluid medium includes terpineol orcyclohexanone. In some embodiments, the chalcogenide glass includes avariety of glass compositions, such as Ge—Se, Ge—S, Ge—Sn—Se. Ge—Sn—SGe—Sb—Te, Ge—Pb—S, and other chalcogenide glass systems. In someembodiments, the surfactant includes ethyl cellulose. In someembodiments, the chalcogenide glass mixture includes between 0.15 gramsof chalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium and 0.3 gramsof chalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium. In someembodiments, the chalcogenide glass mixture includes 0.12 grams of thesurfactant per milliliter of the fluid medium.

In an embodiment, a method for forming an additive manufacturing inkincludes wet milling a chalcogenide glass in a fluid medium and asurfactant to produce a chalcogenide glass mixture. The method furtherincludes, after wet milling the chalcogenide glass, processing thechalcogenide glass mixture to reduce an average particle size of thechalcogenide glass.

In some embodiments, the method includes synthesizing the chalcogenideglass from bulk materials having 5N purity using a melt quenchingprocess. In some embodiments, the fluid medium is free of amines. Insome embodiments, the fluid medium includes cyclohexanone. In someembodiments, the surfactant includes ethyl cellulose. In someembodiments, processing the chalcogenide glass mixture includesultrasonicating the chalcogenide glass mixture and centrifuging thechalcogenide glass mixture. In some embodiments, the method includesadjusting a viscosity of the chalcogenide glass mixture by addingadditional fluid medium to the chalcogenide glass mixture. In someembodiments, after adjusting the viscosity of the chalcogenide glassmixture, the chalcogenide glass mixture includes between 0.15 grams ofchalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium and 0.3 grams ofchalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium. In someembodiments, after adjusting the viscosity of the chalcogenide glassmixture, the chalcogenide glass mixture includes 0.12 grams of thesurfactant per milliliter of the fluid medium. In an embodiment, duringthe processing of the chalcogenide glass mixture, the average particlesize of the chalcogenide glass is reduced to less than or equal to 100nm.

In an embodiment, a method for forming a dissolution based chalcogenideglass ink includes dissolving a chalcogenide glass into an amine-basedsolvent to form a chalcogenide glass solution. The method furtherincludes filtering the chalcogenide glass solution.

In some embodiments, the solvent includes ethylenediamine orpropylamine. In some embodiments, dissolving the chalcogenide glass intothe amine-based solvent includes stirring the chalcogenide glass and thesolvent using a magnetic stirrer at the rate of 700 rpm for at least 72hours. In some embodiments, the method includes synthesizing thechalcogenide glass from bulk materials having 5N purity using a meltquenching process. In some embodiments, the method includes filteringthe chalcogenide glass solution through a filter. In some embodiments,the method includes adding terpineol to the chalcogenide glass solutionto increase its viscosity. In some embodiments, particles ofchalcogenide glass from the chalcogenide glass solution are configuredto agglomerate into a solid film upon application of a two-partsintering process. In some embodiments, the two-part sintering processincludes heating the chalcogenide glass solution in a vacuum furnace to100° C. for at least 24 hours and heating the chalcogenide glasssolution to 130° C. for at least 24 hours.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of an additive manufacturing ink obtainedby dissolution or milling to nanoparticle size with added solvent.

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of a method for forming an additivemanufacturing ink.

FIG. 3 depicts a transformation of bulk elements to bulk chalcogenideglass particles.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of a chalcogenide glass paste.

FIG. 5 depicts the formation of a chalcogenide glass nanoparticle inkwith a predetermined viscosity.

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of a method for making a dissolution basedchalcogenide glass ink.

FIG. 7 depicts a chalcogenide glass ink including glass particlesdissolved in a solvent.

FIG. 8 depicts a chalcogenide glass ink after evaporation has occurred.

FIG. 9 depicts a dissolution based chalcogenide ink after a secondsintering phase has occurred.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. However,it should be understood that the disclosure is not intended to belimited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thescope of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of an additive manufacturing ink isdepicted. In the case of FIG. 1, the additive manufacturing ink may be achalcogenide glass nanoparticle ink 100. The depictions of FIG. 1 arefor clarity and may accurately depict the shape and proportions of thecomponents of the chalcogenide glass nanoparticle ink 100. Thechalcogenide glass nanoparticle ink 100 may include a fluid medium 102,a chalcogenide glass 104, and a surfactant 106.

The fluid medium 102 may include cyclohexanone (C6H100), which may havea boiling point of 156° C. and a viscosity 2.02 cP at 25° C. This highboiling point may prevent the fluid medium 102 from evaporating whileflowing through a nozzle of a printer or of other piece of additivemanufacturing equipment. Further, cyclohexanone may not react with thechalcogenide glass 104. Other compositions may also be used as the fluidmedium 102. In order to reduce the risk of reaction with printer partsand nozzles, the fluid medium 102 may be free of amines. Amines may bemore reactive with types of plastic that may be used in additivemanufacturing.

The surfactant 106 may include ethyl cellulose (n-CH2CH3). As thesurfactant 106, the ethyl cellulose may include long chain polymers thatcan connect themselves to the chalcogenide glass 104 and preventagglomeration. Thus, a texture and viscosity of the chalcogenide glassnanoparticle ink 100 may be maintained.

The chalcogenide glass 104 may include multiple compositions, such as agermanium-sulfide (Ge—S), a germanium-selenide (Ge—Se), agermanium-tin-sulfide (Ge—Sn—S), a germanium-tin-selenide (Ge—Sn—Se), agermanium-antimony-telleride (Ge—Sb—Te), or a germanium-lead-sulfide(Ge—Pb—S). Other possibilities may also exist. The chalcogenide glass104 may be mixed with the fluid medium 102 at a concentration of between0.15 grams of chalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium 102and 0.3 grams of chalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium102. The surfactant 106 may be mixed with the fluid medium 102 at aconcentration of 0.12 grams of the surfactant 106 per milliliter of thefluid medium 102. An average particle size of the chalcogenide glass 104may be less than or equal to 100 nm. Hence, the chalcogenide glass 104may be referred to as nanoparticles.

A benefit of the chalcogenide glass nanoparticle ink 100 is that it maybe used with printing processes and other additive manufacturingprocessing to form chalcogenide glass layers. Using printing processesmay be less expensive than typical vapor deposition processes. Further,the chalcogenide glass nanoparticle ink 100 may include components thatdo not harm typical printers. Other benefits may exist.

Referring to FIG. 2, an embodiment of a method 200 for forming anadditive manufacturing ink is depicted. The method 200 may includesynthesizing a chalcogenide glass, at 202. Some of the options for thechalcogenide glass include germanium-sulfide (Ge—S), germanium-selenide(Ge—Se), germanium-tin-sulfide (Ge—Sn—S), germanium-tin-selenide(Ge—Sn—Se), germanium-antimony-telluride (Ge—Sb—Te), andgermanium-lead-sulfide (Ge—Pb—S) because they are thermally stable, havewide glass forming regions, and may be less toxic as compared to otherchalcogenides, for example those containing Amines. Further, ternariessuch as Pb2Ge8S15 and Sn2Ge8S15 may belong to a family of chalcogenideglasses where the members have more than one crystallizationtemperature. These chalcogenide glasses could be beneficial forincreasing temperature sensing resolutions and could also make sensingdevices more compact.

Ge20Se80, Ge30Se70, Ge33Se67, Ge40Se60, Sn2Ge8S15, Ge2Sb2Te5, andPb2Ge8S15 bulk glasses may be synthesized through melt quenchingtechnique. Pure 5N elements may be weighed and loaded into quartzampules, which are sealed under a vacuum at about 10⁻⁴ mbar. The glasssynthesis may be carried out in a programmable tube furnace for 168hours with a peak temperature of 750° C. The furnace may be programmedat different rates, depending on the composition, to reach 750° C.within the first 24 hours of synthesis with some holdings atcharacteristic temperatures. The quartz ampules may be kept at thehighest temperature for 168 hours (about one week). This may result in agood homogenization of the melt. The resulting glass may be quenched inwater from a temperature of 20° C. above the melting temperature for thesynthesized composition as can be derived from phase diagrams.

The method 200 may further include crushing the chalcogenide glass intoa chalcogenide glass powder, at 204. For example, after synthesis, achalcogenide glass may include an uneven distribution of chunks andshards. In order to further process it, it may be beneficial to crushthe chalcogenide glass into substantially more uniform particles.

The method 200 may also include wet milling the chalcogenide glasspowder, at 206. For milling 2 mm stainless steel milling balls may beused. The starting particle size of the chalcogenide glass may besmaller than the milling balls. An agate mortar and pestle may be usedto ensure that particles within the chalcogenide glass powder less thanabout 2 mm. In general, ball milling can be done either dry or wet. Inthis case, wet milling may help prevent particle agglomeration. Further,the use of a surfactant during milling may produce finer particles andalso reduce wastage of material by preventing particle adhesion to amilling jar and to the milling balls. The chalcogenide glass (e.g.,germanium-selenide), the surfactant (e.g., ethyl cellulose) and thefluid medium (e.g., cyclohexanone) may be mixed and introduced into amilling jar with the milling balls.

Ethyl cellulose may takes some time to dissolve in cyclohexanone.However, un-dissolved ethyl cellulose may not have a significant impactthe milling and may be dissolved during the process instead of beforethe process begins. The fluid medium may be selected to prevent chemicalreaction with either the chalcogenide glass particles or the surfactant.

In some cases, a ball mill may not be designed for continuousproduction. In these cases, it may be set to mill for 30 minutes, pausefor 30 minutes, and then repeat the process until the milling time hasbeen completed. During milling, the temperature may be kept below 50° C.to prevent undesired crystallization of the chalcogenide glassparticles. Milling may be continued until a particle size of thechalcogenide glass becomes saturated.

The method 200 may include determining whether a particle size of thechalcogenide glass is about 250 nm, at 208. If the target particle sizehas not been reached, the method 200 may include continuing to wet millthe chalcogenide glass power, at 206. A dynamic Light Scattering (DLS)system may be used to measure the particle size every 24 hours. DLSutilizes light scattering to measure particle size. Pure cyclohexanonemay be poured in a vendor recommended glass cuvette. A drop of ink maybe mixed with the cyclohexanone. Individual particle sizes may then bedetermined using DLS.

If the target particle size has been reached, then the method 200 mayinclude mixing the resulting paste with additional fluid medium, at 210.Milling alone may not result in a desired viscosity. After ball millingthe chalcogenide glass mixture may come out as a paste. A viscositybetween 8 cP and 24 cP may be desirable for an additive manufacturingprocess. For final adjustment of the ink viscosity, cyclohexanone andethyl cellulose may be added. For example, another 50 ml ofcyclohexanone may be added to the paste to prepare a less viscoussolution. In an example preparation, a good concentration was found tobe between 0.15 g/ml and 0.3 g/ml of chalcogenide glass in cyclohexanoneand about 0.12 g/ml of ethyl cellulose in cyclohexanone. Further, aparticle size between 100 nm and 270 nm showed good results in terms ofprocessing and device performance. In some embodiments, this mixing ofthe paste with additional fluid medium may be performed after thefollowing steps of ultrasonicating and centrifuging.

The method 200 may further include ultrasonicating the mixture, at 212.For example, an ultrasonicator may utilize a probe to transfervibrational energy to the mixture. The diameter of the probe may beselected based on the volume of the mixture. For example, a 2 mmdiameter probe may be used for a 30 ml mixture. Other possibilities mayexist based on experimentation. To reduce the size of the particles, themixture may be sonicated for about 2½ hours. A diameter of the particlesafter ultrasonication may be as low as 145 nm. However, the average sizemay be much higher due to a wide variability in particle size. Furtherultrasonication can be used to both disperse and reduce particle size.For example, in 10 to 12 hours ultrasonication can reduce the averageparticle size from its bulk size to less than 250 nm.

The method 200 may also include centrifuging the mixture, at 214.Centrifuging the mixture at 4500 rpm for about 1.5 hours may help createa uniform particle size within the mixture. The resulting mixture mayhave chalcogenide glass nanoparticles having a diameter of less than 100nm, which may be sufficient for sintering or melting the particles at atemperature below 427° C., which may be lower than the lowestcrystallization temperature of the materials used in the mixture.

The method 200 may include determining whether a particle size of thechalcogenide glass less than 100 nm, at 216. If the target particle sizehas not been reached, the method 200 may include repeatedlyultrasonicating the mixture, at 212, and centrifuging the mixture, at214. If the target particle size has been reached, then the resultingink may be ready for printing, at 218.

A benefit of the method 200 is that it may be used to form achalcogenide glass nanoparticle ink for printing in conventionaladditive printers. Using printers may be less expensive than typicalvapor deposition processes for chalcogenide glass layers. Further, thechalcogenide glass nanoparticle ink may include components that do notharm typical printers. Other benefits may exist.

Referring to FIG. 3, a transformation 300 of bulk elements to bulkchalcogenide glass particles 306 is depicted. For example, bulkgermanium 302 and bulk selenium 304 may be synthesized into chalcogenideglass and then crushed into a powder that includes the chalcogenideglass particles 306. The chalcogenide glass particles 306 may correspondto a state after the step 204 of the method 200. It should be noted thatthe germanium-selenide composition depicted in FIG. 3 is only forexample, purposes. Other compositions may exist as described herein. Thebulk chalcogenide glass powder may have an average diameter 308 that maybe less than about 2 mm after the transformation 300.

Referring to FIG. 4, an embodiment of a chalcogenide glass paste 400 isdepicted. The paste 400 may correspond to a state after the step 208 ofthe method 200. For example, the paste 400 may be the result of wetmilling as described herein. The paste 400 may include a fluid medium402, chalcogenide glass particles 404, and a surfactant 406. Thechalcogenide glass particles 404 may have a diameter 408 of about 250nm.

Referring to FIG. 5, the formation of a chalcogenide glass nanoparticleink 510 with a desired viscosity is depicted. For example, the paste 400may be mixed with additional fluid medium 502 to reduce a concentrationof the chalcogenide glass particles 404 and the surfactant 406 withinthe combined fluid medium 512. In some cases, the addition of theadditional fluid medium 502 may be performed after the step 208 ofmethod 200, as shown in FIG. 2. In other cases, the additional fluidmedium 502 may be added after the ultrasonication step 212 and thecentrifuge step 214.

Amines, as described herein, may be used to make dissolution-basedchalcogenide glass inks. In some cases, the amines described herein maybe reactive with various parts of printers. For example, thechalcogenide glass mixtures used may include corrosive fluid mediums orsolvents, such as amine-based mediums. These mixtures may not besuitable for many printing applications because they can damage printersand printer components if made from plastic polymers. However, theseinks may be appropriate for other additive manufacturing processes, suchas screen printing, nScrypt printer, and spin coating.

Referring to FIG. 6, an embodiment of a method 600 for making adissolution based chalcogenide glass ink is depicted. The method 600 mayinclude synthesizing a chalcogenide glass, at 602. The process ofsynthesizing the chalcogenide glass may be the same process as describedwith reference to the method 200. In particular, Ge20Se80, Ge30Se70,Ge33Se67, Ge40Se60, Sn2Ge8S15, Ge2Sb2Te5, and Pb2Ge8S15 bulk glasses maybe synthesized through melt quenching technique using pure 5N elements.

The method 600 may further include crushing the chalcogenide glass intoa chalcogenide glass powder, at 604. The crushing may be performed usingan agate mortar and pestle. Other techniques are possible.

The method 600 may also include dissolving the chalcogenide glass powderinto a solvent, at 606. Amine solvents may be capable of dissolving thechalcogenide glass powder. Examples of amines that may be used areethylenediamine (EDA) and propylamine (PA). Other solvents are possible.A volumetric flask may be used to perform the mixing. The dissolutionrate of Ge—Se based chalcogenide glass, for example, into an amine-basedsolvent may be about 0.08 g per 20 ml. To speed up the dissolutionprocess, the solution may be stirred by using a magnetic stirrer at arate of 700 rpm for 72 hours. During the process, a lid of thevolumetric flask may be kept closed by para-film to prevent evaporation.

The method 600 may include increasing a viscosity of the solution, at608. For example, terpineol may be added to the solution to increase itsviscosity. The terpineol and the increased viscosity may improve aresolution of a resulting printed film. In some applications 5% to 10%of terpineol is sufficient to achieve a good resolution forscreen-printed patterns.

The method 600 may further include performing vacuum filtration of thesolution, at 610. For example, the solution may be filtered through a0.025 μm nylon filter using a vacuum filtration technique. Thefiltration may remove larger particles of chalcogenide glass that havenot been dissolved in the solvent. In some embodiments, the step 608 ofincreasing the viscosity of the solution may be performed after the step610 of filtering the solution.

The resulting ink may be ready for printing, at 612. Before the printingprocess, the dissolution based ink may be characterized using atensiometer. A contact angle of the ink when applied to a substrate mayprovide information about how well the ink will spread over thesubstrate. It may be an important indicator of proper ink viscosity andthe quality of the ink formulation process.

The tensiometer may be used to measure the contact angle by applying adroplet of ink to a stage and then analyzing image data of the droplet.First, the stage may be flattened to ensure that the droplet of ink doesnot move during deposition. After the droplet is deposited on the stage,an image may be recorded by a camera. The image may be analyzed usingsoftware to determine the contact angle.

The prepared ink can be applied for printing on a substrate using ascreen printer or a 3D printer or by spin coating the ink on thesubstrate. In the case of screen printing, a monofilament polyesterfabric may be stretched extremely tightly on a metal frame. Aphotosensitive emulsion may be coated over the fabric to form a stencil.The combination of the stencil and the metal frame may form a screen.After drying the photosensitive emulsion, the desired printing designmay be transferred to the screen. In some screen printing processes, adesired print design transparent sheet may be laid onto an emulsioncoated screen. The screen may be exposed to UV light and the exposedarea may be hardened. The unexposed area may be washed away using water.

The screen may be placed on a printing press. The substrate may beplaced on a flat printing board underneath the screen and the screen maybe lowered onto the printing board. The chalcogenide glass dissolutionbased ink may be added to a top of the screen and a squeegee may be usedto pull the ink along the full length of the screen. The ink may thentransfer through the open areas of the stencil design. As a result, thedesired design may be imprinted on the substrate. A thickness of theprinted film can be varied by changing an emulsion thickness of thescreen.

After the printing process, a sintering process may be applied to theprinted ink. The printed and dried film patterns may be highly resistivedue to the inconsistencies in the films, which may not be sufficient forsome applications. For example, referring to FIG. 7, a chalcogenideglass ink 700 may include chalcogenide glass particles 702 dissolved ina solvent 704. The solvent 704 may obstruct electrical conduction withinthe chalcogenide glass ink 700. Sintering may combine particles ofchalcogenide glass to create a solid film. This may form a conductiveprinted pattern. The sintering process may depend on factors, such asthe composition of the solution, the particle size of the chalcogenideglass, a heat rate, a sintering temperature, a sintering time, liquidphase formation properties, and so on. The sintering process may alsohelp the printed pattern or film to have better adhesion to thesubstrate. The basic sintering process may expose the printed film toheat, intense light, microwave radiation, plasma, or an electric field,which may trigger the formation of continuous films. The main challengemay be to remove the solvent from the surface of the printed pattern andto break down polymer backbones of the solution. Since the chalcogenideglass may be a photosensitive material, a thermal sintering process maybe more appropriate.

Referring to FIG. 8, a chalcogenide ink 800, which may correspond to thechalcogenide ink 700, is depicted after evaporation has occurred. Asmentioned before, FDA or PA may be used as the solvent 704. The boilingpoint of EDA may be 116° C., and the boiling point of PA may be 51° C.The printed film may be placed into a vacuum furnace at 100° C. for 24hours. In this phase, the solvent 704 of the dissolution based ink maybe evaporated from a surface of the printed film, placing thechalcogenide glass particles 704 in close contact.

Referring to FIG. 9, a dissolution based chalcogenide ink 900, which maycorrespond to the chalcogenide ink 700 and to the chalcogenide glass ink800, is depicted after a second sintering phase has occurred. The secondsintering phase may include heating the chalcogenide glass ink 900 to130° C. for 24 hours. In this phase, the particles 702 of the printedfilm may agglomerate and create a solid film. A vacuum furnace windowmay be covered with Aluminum to avoid light and assist with theoccurrence of photoinduced processes in the sintering films, due to thephotosensitivity properties of the chalcogenide glass. The temperaturemay be increased in increments of 20° C. with a hold of 15 minutesbetween them starting at room temperature and reaching 100° C. slowlyduring the first phase of the sintering process to avoid cracksformation on the printed films.

In an example, an EDA based Ge30Se70 ink printed into a film compositionhad about 1% variance from the bulk materials used to formulate the ink.As another example, a PA-based Ge30Se70 printed film may vary by about5% to 6% as compared to the bulk material.

Although various embodiments have been shown and described, the presentdisclosure is not so limited and will be understood to include all suchmodifications and variations as would be apparent to one skilled in theart.

What is claimed is:
 1. An additive manufacturing ink composition comprising: a fluid medium; chalcogenide glass suspended within the fluid medium to form a chalcogenide glass mixture; and a surfactant.
 2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the fluid medium includes cyclohexanone.
 3. The composition of claim 1, wherein the chalcogenide glass includes materials from germanium-sulfide, a germanium-selenide, a germanium-tin-sulfide, a germanium-tin-selenide, a germanium-antimony-telluride, or a germanium-lead-sulfide glass systems.
 4. The composition of claim 1, wherein the surfactant includes ethyl cellulose.
 5. The composition of claim 1, wherein the chalcogenide glass mixture includes between 0.15 grams of chalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium and 0.3 grams of chalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium.
 6. The composition of claim 1, wherein the chalcogenide glass mixture includes 0.12 grams of the surfactant per milliliter of the fluid medium.
 7. The composition of claim 1, wherein an average particle size of the chalcogenide glass is less than or equal to 100 nm.
 8. A method for forming an additive manufacturing ink comprising: wet milling a chalcogenide glass in a fluid medium and a surfactant to produce a chalcogenide glass mixture; and after wet milling the chalcogenide glass, processing the chalcogenide glass mixture to reduce an average particle size of the chalcogenide glass.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: synthesizing the chalcogenide glass from bulk materials having 5N purity using a melt quenching process.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the fluid medium is free of amines.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the fluid medium includes cyclohexanone.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the surfactant includes ethyl cellulose.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein processing the chalcogenide glass mixture comprises: ultrasonicating the chalcogenide glass mixture; and centrifuging the chalcogenide glass mixture.
 14. The method of claim 8, further comprising adjusting a viscosity of the chalcogenide glass mixture by adding additional fluid medium to the chalcogenide glass mixture.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein after adjusting the viscosity of the chalcogenide glass mixture, the chalcogenide glass mixture includes between 0.15 grams of chalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium and 0.3 grams of chalcogenide glass per milliliter of the fluid medium.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein after adjusting the viscosity of the chalcogenide glass mixture, the chalcogenide glass mixture includes 0.12 grams of the surfactant per milliliter of the fluid medium.
 17. The method of claim 8, wherein during the processing of the chalcogenide glass mixture, the average particle size of the chalcogenide glass is reduced to less than or equal to 100 nm.
 18. A method for forming a dissolution based chalcogenide glass ink comprising: dissolving a chalcogenide glass into an amine-based solvent to form a chalcogenide glass solution; filtering the chalcogenide glass solution.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the solvent includes ethylenediamine or propylamine.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein dissolving the chalcogenide glass into the amine-based solvent includes stirring the chalcogenide glass and the solvent using a magnetic stirrer at the rate of 700 rpm for at least 72 hours.
 21. The method of claim 18, further comprising synthesizing the chalcogenide glass from bulk materials having 5N purity using a melt quenching process.
 22. The method of claim 18, further comprising filtering the chalcogenide glass solution through a filter.
 23. The method of claim 18, further comprising adding terpineol to the chalcogenide glass solution to increase its viscosity.
 24. The method of claim 18, wherein particles of chalcogenide glass from the chalcogenide glass solution are configured to agglomerate into a solid film upon application of a two-part sintering process.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the two-part sintering process comprises: heating the chalcogenide glass solution in a vacuum furnace to 100° C. for at least 24 hours; and heating the chalcogenide glass solution to 130° C. for at least 24 hours. 